Mason Greenwood netted four goals as Marseille overwhelmed 10-man Le Havre with a scoreline of 6-2, moving ahead of their fierce rivals Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the Ligue 1 table on Saturday.
The former Manchester United attacker, who permanently transferred to Marseille during the summer of 2024, was in incredible form, leading his team to a fifth consecutive victory.
After eight matches, Marseille found themselves one point ahead of PSG, who drew at home against Strasbourg on Friday.
With 21 goals in eight games, Marseille’s attack was firing on all cylinders, while defensively they appeared more solid under coach Roberto De Zerbi.
“It was an absolutely perfect evening,” remarked Marseille captain Leonardo Balerdi.
Following the sending off of Le Havre’s Gautier Lloris for a deliberate handball, Greenwood converted a penalty to level the score after Yassine Kechta had given Le Havre the initial lead.
Greenwood added three more goals in the second half, showcasing his talent as he continues to excel in Marseille, where he finished last season as a co-top scorer with Ousmane Dembélé, both netting 21 goals. Dembélé received the accolade due to fewer penalties.
Greenwood became the first Marseille player to score four goals in a Ligue 1 match since Jean-Pierre Papin in 1991, according to Opta.
Goals from Robinio Vaz and Amir Murillo rounded out Marseille’s scoring, while Le Havre’s Aboulaye Touré scored a stunning volley from outside the box to reduce the deficit.
Seven-time champions Lyon could have surpassed PSG with a win at Nice, but they suffered a 3-2 defeat despite controlling much of the game along the French Riviera.
Lyon fell behind early after Nice’s defender Melvin Bard capitalized on a fine cross from Sofiane Diop in the 5th minute.
Lyon responded well and equalized just before the half-hour mark with a header from Pavel Sulc
.
However, Nice regained the lead five minutes later as Diop scored after turning from provider to scorer.
After halftime, Lyon’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles had a penalty saved by Nice’s Yehvann Diouf.
Hicham Boudaoui sealed the victory for Nice with a goal in the 55th minute. Although Sulc managed to score one back for Lyon in stoppage time, it wasn’t enough to change the outcome.
Nice ended their five-match winless streak across competitions and moved up to eighth, just four points adrift of Lyon.
U.S. forward Folarin Balogun found the net for the second time this season for fifth-placed Monaco during a 1-1 draw with struggling Angers.
After a first half devoid of shots on target, Balogun came off the bench in the 62nd minute, part of a tactical change by new Monaco coach Sébastien Pocognoli that proved effective.
Balogun scored in the 72nd minute with a composed low shot after receiving a brilliant pass from substitute Takumi Minamino, holding off a defender.
Unfortunately for Monaco, they couldn’t maintain their lead, as 18-year-old forward Sidiki Cherif equalized with his first Ligue 1 goal with just four minutes remaining.